October 18th Cairo to Alexandria.

Alexandria..The end

It's a Friday the weekly holy day in Islam.. I choose this day to travel to Alexandria.

I settle my bill and say goodbye to the hotel staff.. I've been here 5 nights.. A great team .

The GPS tries to take me back into town.. but Mohammed has given me directions for the desert road.. Even I can't miss them.

I'm on my way. 4 lanes each way and no trucks ..they have their own lanes. An easy run to Alexandria less than 2 hours.. I stop to let the gas out of the gas bottle and tidy the back up a bit. I'm in phone contact with Links man in Alexandria a Mr. Ehad. a lovely guy. I I arrive about 12 midday.. see a McDonalds sign.. well it's been a long time so I give it a go.. One thing is it's consistent.. but I regret it afterwards.. from a cultural point of view.

I google hotels and find the Le Metropole.. not an original name.. but it does have history.

And as a travel agent I get a good rate. The hotel is 100 years old built on the site of the obelisk that you have seen in Paris.. a gift from Egypt to France. I find parking outside. A security guy approaches me within seconds, he wants to make sure that he gets a tip ..we come to an arrangement.

I check in and after taking a picture from the 5th floor I decide to have a stroll on the promenade.

Such a lovely sight

Being a holiday it is busy

the ice cream seller

I make friends

And more friends.. now we're talking. They don't look as happy as the guys.

Fishing in the med. probably been done for thousands of years

The hotel is old world with an amazing lift. My single room is adequate..

Le Metropole..it was on this site that the obelisk given to France came from

One of the lounges in Le Metropole

Local trafic police.. a happy guy.

Beautiful old buildings..it has a lovely warm feeling.

A shower then at dusk I go up to the 5th floor restaurant to have another look .

The view is lovely and the temperature is perfect.

The bay in Alexandria.. so pretty.

Mr. Ehad phones ..pleased I booked somewhere central.. We will meet at 7.45 am

Radwa has things for us to do tomorrow.

This city has a French feeling - patisseries, pavement cafes -or is it Egyptian that the French copied?

I decide to have dinner at the terrace restaurant.

It is excellent. A greek salad to start that could feed an army.. and then chicken.. both excellent with a bottle of local wine also very good.

The food tastes better here..

At about 9pm a singer ..French songs.. very romantic.. but I'm on my own!!

A nice day.